The 1891 census was taken on the night of Sunday 5th April. In addition to the information collected in 1881, householders were now asked how many rooms their family occupied, if less than five. But no instructions were given on the census schedule as to what constituted a room. Were large cupboards or indoor toilets to be included? One example, of an enumerator misinterpreting his instructions has been found in Warrington. Here the enumerator placed the figure '1' against the address of each householder whose family occupied fewer than five rooms. At least one street enumerated by him still stands today - a row of four-roomed terraced houses. Information was also now collected on whether each individual was an employer, an employee or neither, i.e. self-employed. In addition, the 1891 census returns for Wales and Monmouth show whether the person spoke English, Welsh or both.
As for earlier censuses, Ringmer was divided into 3 enumeration districts. The enumerators were H J Glover, Charles Pockney and Frank Washer. The first is not to be found in this transcription, the second maybe the Congregational Minister and the third maybe a 21-year old painter. As with all transcriptions, there are no guarantees as to accuracy and any information should be checked against the original.
The 1901 census will be available for public inspection in January 2002. The Public Record Office intends that it will be searchable via the Internet. Access to the Index and some detail will be available free of charge but payment, probably using a credit card, will need to be made to view a full transcription of the details of an individual or to view an image of the page itself. For the most up-to-date information see www.pro.gov.uk/census
Sue Burton, 29 December 2000